All five onboard the missing Titan sub are believed to have died, the company that operates the vessel said in a statement on Thursday.
The Titan began its descent Sunday to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. It is located about 13,000 feet below sea level in the North Atlantic Ocean.
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The US Coast Guard also said a debris field had been discovered by an underwater robot near the search area. But the vessel lost contact with its support ship on the surface just two hours later.
The sub is carrying British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani tycoon Shahzada Dawood and also his son Suleman. The CEO of OceanGate Expeditions Stockton Rush, and French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet.’
MISSING TITAN SUB CREW DEAD
“We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost,” an OceanGate statement read.
“These men were true explorers who also shared a distinct spirit of adventure. A deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans.”
Rescue teams from several countries had spent days searching thousands of square miles of open seas. Also with planes and ships for any sign.
The submersible lost contact on Sunday morning with its support ship about an hour and 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour descent.
The detection of undersea noises on Tuesday and Wednesday using sonar buoys dropped from Canadian aircraft had temporarily offered hope that the people on board the submersible were alive and trying to communicate by banging on the hull.